80 CONSERVATION OF GROUND WATER 



pressure were sufficiently reduced by pumping from wells, 

 some of the water now lost by evapotranspiration in the 

 lower part of Utah Valley might be diverted instead to 

 beneficial use. And if water were pumped from the coarser 

 gravels of the valley, it is likely that it would be replaced by 

 seepage from the streams, with the result that water would 

 be stored underground, with minimum evaporation losses, 

 rather than in Utah Lake. If the ground-water reservoir 

 were so utilized, additional water salvaged from natural 

 losses could be obtained only at considerable cost, because 

 of the pumping required. Indeed, any method of increasing 

 the utilization of water will entail large expenditures. 

 Nevertheless, the projects that will reduce evapotranspira- 

 tion losses offer perhaps the only method of obtaining sub- 

 stantial additional quantities of water from the drainage 

 basin for beneficial use, because these natural losses consti- 

 tute most, if not all, of the water still unappropriated. 



It has been demonstrated that an industry with large re- 

 quirements for water can be established in Utah Valley 

 without infringing upon the rights of other water users. The 

 Geneva Steel Company in its operations pumps water at the 

 rate of 370 cubic feet per second (240 million gallons per 

 day), which is about 80 per cent of the long-term average 

 flow of the Provo River. The net consumptive use within 

 the plant, however, is only 10 to 12 cubic feet per second. 



The water rights for the steel plant, coming late as it did 

 in the development of the valley, were necessarily acquired 

 on a catch-as-catch-can basis. The Defense Plant Corpora- 

 tion had the advantages of excellent cooperation from 

 holders of prior rights, and a temporary lease on water from 

 Deer Creek Reservoir pending its completion by the Bureau 

 of Reclamation and delivery to the ultimate users. Purchase 

 of the plant property brought rights to 128 wells with a 

 claimed combined flow of 4,400 gallons per minute through- 

 out the year, plus rights in the irrigation season to the flow 

 of several springs and drains yielding about 2,500 gallons 

 per minute on the average. These basic rights are sufficient 



